Recipe: Key lime pie

pack the crumb in the molds

This is a real southern classic, and considering how much I love tangy citrus desserts, immediately gained top shelf ranking in my books.  The custard is really easy to make (once you got all the limes squeezed), the only tricky part is the crust if you are going to go the traditional route and make it with graham crumbs.  Not that the crust is hard - it's graham crumbs and butter basically - but it takes a bit of time and patience to pack it in the mold.  If you need to pack the crumb mixture into a bunch of individual fluted molds as in the pictures, it takes a little more patience.  Top it with meringue or not?  That's your call - it almost seems a shame to hide that glossy custard.  With these ones, we actually made a marshmallow to serve with the pies and burned them as we went.  This recipe made 15 individual pies, and so should do for a couple larger pies.  I would divide the recipe down, but that would leave you with a half can of condensed milk lingering in the fridge - I would rather do the full recipe and make more later - it's that good.  The custard lasts well for a couple days in the fridge, just give it a good whisk before using as there may be some separation during storage.  Try to use molds with removable bottom plates - it makes unmolding a lot easier.

bake the crusts

You will need:

For the crust:

400g / 14oz (1 box)                    graham crumbs

283g / 10oz                                 melted butter

pinch                                           cinnamon

as needed                                    pan spray

whisk the yolks with the condensed milk

For the custard:

900ml / 30.4fl oz (3 cans)          condensed milk

8                                                 egg yolk

375ml / 1.5C                              key lime juice

Method:

 - set the oven to 350F / 177C

whisk in the lime juice

 - pan spray the molds really well and set on a sheet pan

 - mix the cinnamon and graham crumbs

 - melt the butter and mix with the crumbs well

 - bake 5 minutes at 350F / 177C

 - rotate the pan

 - bake another 5 minutes

 - let cool on the sheet pan

 - reset the oven to 300F / 149C

 - whisk the yolks with the condensed milk

 - whisk in the key lime juice

 - fill the pies

 - bake for 10 minutes at 300F / 149C

 - rotate 

 - bake another 5 minutes

 - remove from oven and cool completely

fill the pies

 - transfer to the fridge to chill down

 - to unmold, carefully torch the outside of the mold to loosen the butter in the crust

 - carefully push the bottom plate to free the pie from the sides of the mold

 - remove the bottom plate and serve

bake the pies

torch the mold to release